I’m going to come back on this shortly as it’s a really cool topic to explore and discuss more because there is some education in here which helps separate Cacao and conventional chocolate which is important. I’m excited to bring this to the table for discussion.

I just have the in person knowledge from the M&M chocolatire guy that came in to teach us the Erickson Line. No books, etc. I actually got to teach the business and other employees myself on the industrial hand pans that create the outer shells around the chocolate. What I learned about chocolate that I can recall off the top of my head: Cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (I-VI), but only the Phase V crystal provides the correct and desired shine, snap, and mouthfeel. The goal of tempering is to create a stable, organized network of Phase V crystals while eliminating unstable (I-IV) crystals, which cause soft texture and bloom. The tempering process we where taught is as follows: 1) Melt (45°C - 50°C / 113°F - 122°F): Completely melt all existing crystals in the chocolate. 2) Cool (27°C - 28°C / 80°F - 82°F): Cool the chocolate to create a mix of crystals, both good and bad. 3) Reheat/Working Temp (30°C - 32°C / 87°F - 90°F): Gently warm to melt away undesirable, lower-melting crystals, leaving only the stable Type V, creating the perfect temper. Properly tempered chocolate is a solid, stable, and glossy matrix. Untempered chocolate has a dull spotty appearance, is often soft/grainy in texture and may develop sugar or fat bloom over time, like the bar you posted. I'm much more of a sugar work guy, but it's kinda the same thing with chocolate, looking for specific crystalline structures depending on what's being made.